London's national rowing centre still afloat

If this were a race, London’s national rowing centre has just entered the repechage stage, another chance to advance to the final.

The centre has received a reprieve from the edict that came down in late September, when Rowing Canada announced London was losing its national centre for women after 32 years.

Rowing Canada said it was centralizing its national training programs, moving the women’s team to Victoria to join the men. The London site was supposed to become a next-generation centre for the development of younger rowers.

The decision was met with strong resistance not only from rowers but rowing executives, who for years worked to make London a successful facility.

That resulted in further evaluation of the planned move and a delay in its implementation.

“We’re still finalizing decisions as to where centres will be located and how much time athletes spend in each centre,” senior national team coach Michelle Darvill said Sunday during a Christmas celebration attended by rowers, coaches and supporters.

“At this point in time we plan on attending some of the World Cups and London will be used as a staging centre for both the senior national team before the World Cup and the U23 team before their world championship.

“The performance director is assessing the environment in the facilities in both Victoria and London and which suits teams or crews. It’s not as cut and dry. You also have to live something before we can make decisions. We haven’t actually seen how the year in Victoria, with the men’s and women’s team in one spot, whether that’s feasible is another question. You have to be very open minded as to what can work.”

The lease for the rowing centre was supposed to expire March 31 but has been extended to Aug. 31.

“There will be an independent assessment as to spanning the two centres or even looking at other opportunities to host a training centre,” Darvill said. “So we’ll be revisiting the idea of having one centre and looking at other options from a totally independent firm.”

Mike Murphy who as a long-time coach and founding member putting the Rowing Canada centre in London, said the fight will carry on.

“In my opinion this is worth fighting for,” he said. “We will continue to fight to keep the London centre open indefinitely . . . we should look at the future as an opportunity to regroup and make this place so good that Rowing Canada has to continue to stay here.”

The delay in moving all the national rowers to Victoria is good news for several of the rowers who have put down roots in London. Four members of the women’s Canadian eights that won silver at the world rowing championships in October, have partners, jobs or bought homes in the area.

Jennifer Martins, Lisa roman, Kristin Bauder and Susanne Grainger will continue to train here along with several other national team members.

Grainger is the rower with the deepest roots. She’s a Londoner and graduate of Central Secondary School. Grainger has been a member of Canada’s national rowing team since 2013.

Grainger said they had heard rumours of a potential move.

“In the daily training environment it would come up from time to time,” she said. “We do our best when you are in tough situations to just really focus in training. You can’t ignore it. It’s a real thing to a certain extent and you have to plan for that possibility and reality. It’s difficult but you can’t let it take away from that end goal.”

The ultimate goal for any rower is to compete at the top level of competition. Some of the women who are now in London established roots here because this is where the woman’s national team was based.

“You form roots; you get used to where you’re supposed to be and it’s hard to make that change,” she said. “But in the end if you want to try and go to the Olympics you have to do what you’re going to get there.”

Grainger said there is some relief knowing that there has been an extension handed out.

“Michelle has an amazing support system for us, that we aren’t alone here and having this amazing community around us as well, has made it that much easier,” Grainger said.

Grainger says the rowers train in just about everything including singles or pairs. Putting together a team of eights is much easier if all the rowers are in one location.

In the long run Grainger says the focus of the rowers here in London is on training and improving.

Grainger is 26 and like her teammates, is in a situation where should the rowing centre move to Victoria, it would impact her life off the water.

“I have a boyfriend and he’s always been supportive,” she said. “You want to make a joint decision but he also has a life in Ontario so it’s just figuring out the logistics. I have a part-time job (tutoring elementary school children) to keep my mind separated a little from rowing. I’m really enjoying it and to leave that it would also be difficult.”

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